Finca Piedra Infinita 2017 Zuccardi

Tasting Notes

The first impression is an aromatic lift rather than a heavy one. Violets, raspberries, blueberries, and a bunch of dried Andean herbs cover something distinctly chalky, almost salty. On the palate, Finca Piedra Infinita 2017 is meatier than usual, perhaps due to the warm season, but the tannins remain fine and stony rather than opulent. The finish is long and mineral. If you open a bottle now, we recommend decanting it for at least an hour.

Grape Varieties

It is a cepage, 100% Malbec.

So why no blending partner? Because the point of Finca Piedra Infinita is to read the soil, not the cellar. The Malbec of Palaje Altamira behaves differently from the lush, oaky Luján de Cuyo style. Add Cabernet or Bonarda and the signals would be muddled. Sebastian Zuccardi wants the vineyard to speak for itself.

Cellaring Potential

Drink between 2025 and 2032. The young 2017 wines are more approachable than the cooler vintages thanks to their riper fruit, but the chalky tannins and bright acidity guarantee another 10+ years in bottle. store at 12-14°C. After 2028, the wines turn to dry herbs, leather and more pronounced minerals. After 2028, it will turn to dry herbs, leather, and more pronounced minerality.

The Producer

The Zuccardi company did not start with wine. It began with irrigation. Alberto Zuccardi planted vines in 1963 to demonstrate the system he had invented. Three generations later, Sebastián Zuccardi led the farm from the old, powerful, oaky style of Argentine Malbec to a leaner, more site-specific style. 2019-2021, Zuccardi's Valle de Uco vineyard will be the world's best for the third consecutive year Certified. Best of Wines believes this shift makes the most sense for single vineyard wines like Finca Piedra Infinita.

Terroir & Climate

The vineyard's name, Piedra Infinita (Infinite Stone), speaks volumes. Before the trees could be planted, more than 1,000 truckloads of stones had to be removed. What was left was a shallow sandy area overlying a large granite subsoil covered with calcium carbonate (limestone). Why is this important? Limestone retains moisture and gives Malbec a chalky, salty color that cannot be obtained from clay. Add to this the daily temperature difference of 15-20°C and annual rainfall of about 250 mm, and you get freshness, not jam.

Winemaking

Sebastian Zuccardi ferments his wines with indigenous yeasts in unfired concrete tanks and then ages them in concrete. Why? Because oak, even neutral oak, imparts textures and aromas comparable to the limestone that characterizes Paraguay Altamira. Concrete is inert. It does not allow the wine to breathe and impart flavor. The trade-off is that the tannins lose their hiding place, so the work in the vineyard must be relentless. You taste the flavors of the terroir.

Food Pairing

Argentine asado is the obvious answer, and the right one. Try it:

• Bacio or entraña in parrillas, where the beef fat absorbs the chalky tannins.
• Slow-roasted Patagonian lamb with chimichurri
• Mendocinas empanadas baked, not fried
• Aged sardo or rejanito. Its saltiness echoes the wine's mineral notes.

Serve at 16-18°C. Decant one hour before serving.